Keywords: CPAP, medical device design, risk analysis, user interface design
Client: © Equalize Health
Funded by: Hiiih Innovations Pvt. Ltd.
Role: Product design (consultant)
Product website: https://equalize-health.netlify.app/products/cpap
Premature babies can face respiratory distress (RDS) due to under-developed respiratory systems. The lungs can collapse without sufficient airway pressure and lead to hypoxia, which can be fatal. Traditional mechanical continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices do not adequately control the air pressure and do not respond to changes in lung function in neonates. Furthermore, any undue increase in air pressure can damage the under-developed lungs, causing shock and risking death.
FlowLite is a neonatal digital CPAP device designed for low resource settings to manage RDS. The device maintains humidified, oxygenated air pressure in the patient to prevent the lungs from collapsing. The device is designed for portability and includes a battery pack for last mile emergency transport and power outages.
The project involved a risk assessment of the device user interface, including field studies in low resource settings, user testing simulations with nurses and a redesign proposal of the user interface to reduce the risk of improper use during high patient load situations.